Daniel Santos and heavyweight champion Elieser Castillo headline on April 17

HOLLYWOOD, FL – (March 18, 2004) World championship boxing comes to Tampa with an exciting lineup of bouts. The card features WBO junior middleweight champion Daniel Santos and NABF heavyweight champion Elieser Castillo. The card, to be held at The Florida State Fairgrounds Entertainment Hall takes place Saturday, April 17, and will consist of nine bouts including five championship fights and an International Boxing Federation title eliminator.

WBO junior middleweight champion Daniel Santos (27-2-1, 20 KOs) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico defends his title against Michael Lerma (29-8-1, 20 KOs) of Waco, Texas in a 12 round championship bout. Santos, the former WBO welterweight champion is defending the junior middleweight title for the third time since defeating Yori Boy Campas by technical knockout in 2002. “I am looking forward to a strong performance on April 17th,” Said Santos. “My goal right now is to defend my title one more time against my mandatory and then fight Winky Wright to truly unify the division.” Lerma, the tough Mexican American is coming off a decision loss to former world champion Verno Phillips in 2003.

The co-main event features NABF heavyweight champion Elieser Castillo (26-3-2, 14 KOs) of Miami, Florida defending his heavyweight title against Davarryl Williamson (19-2, 17 KOs) of Washington, D.C. Originally, these two were slated to fight in January. The fight was postponed due to a Castillo injury. Castillo, who defected to the United States from Cuba in the early 90’s, has steadily climbed the heavyweight ladder since his pro debut in 1996. Castillo owns knockout victories over Andre Purlette in 2001 and Lawrence Cley-Bey in 2003. In his most recent effort, Castillo defeated former world champion Uriah Grant by first round knockout in January. Castillo holds the World Boxing Council No. 14 world rating, the IBF No. 15 world rating and the WBO No. 11 world rating. Williamson bounced back from a first round knockout loss to Joe Mesi in September 2003 with a ninth round knockout victory over Kendrick Releford in January.

The undercard includes IBF No. nine rated super middleweight Tito “El Misil” Mendoza (31-4, 24 KOs) of Santiago, Panama taking on IBF No. seven rated super middleweight Syd Vanderpool (34-2, 23 KOs) of Kitchener, Canada for the IBF No. one rating in a 12 round IBF elimination bout. A proud native of Panama, the 6’3 Mendoza is eager to continue his campaign in the super middleweight division. He currently is coming off a third round TKO victory of Etienne Whitaker in January. Vanderpool is on a six fight win streak since losing a decision to Bernard Hopkins in 2000 for the middleweight championship. The winner of this fight will become the mandatory to fight for the world title.

In more heavyweight action, North American Boxing Association heavyweight champion Lance “Mount” Whitaker (26-2-1, 22 KOs) of Van Nuys, California and former NABA heavyweight champion Friday “the 13th” Ahunanya (20-1-1, 11 KOs) of Nigeria, clash in a 12 round championship bout. Whitaker and Ahunanya are both coming off a three fight win streak. This fight is a crossroads fight for both fighters. The winner will most likely break into the coveted heavyweight top ten.

Daniel Judah (19-0-2, 9 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York will square off against hard hitting Julian “Mr. KO” Letterlough (20-5-2, 19 KOs) of Reading, Pennsylvania for the vacant United States Boxing Association light heavyweight championship in a 12 round bout. Judah’s most impressive fight to date is a draw against current IBF light heavyweight champion Glencoffe Johnson who recently vacated the USBA title in order to fight for the world championship. Judah is the brother of junior welterweight champion Zab Judah. Like his brother Zab, Daniel is a southpaw and is trained by his father Yoel. In his most recent outing Judah defeated Tiwon Taylor by fifth round TKO in January. Letterlough, the former NABO light heavyweight champion has been in against tough competition such as Julio Gonzalez, Vasilliy Jirov for the IBF Cruiserweight title, David Telesco and Richard Hall. Letterlough is coming off a fifth round knockout victory over Tony Menefee in January.

On the comeback trail, former USBA junior middleweight and NABA middleweight champion Aaron “Superman” Davis (49-6, 31 KOs) of the Bronx, New York is taking on Shannon Landberg (58-10-3, 26 KOs) of West Lafayette, Indiana in a ten round middleweight bout. Davis is coming off a two year layoff and a six win fight streak with his most recent two victories over Vinny Pazienza in 2001 and Ross Thompson in 2002.

Local Tampa favorites Michael Rush (25-7-1, 13 KOs), Gene Molen (12-0-1, 8 KOs), and Edner Cherry (13-2-2, 5 KOs) round out the card.

Tickets priced at $30 general admission, $75, $125, $150 and $250 ringside reserved are available through Ticketmaster by calling 813-287-8844, 727-898-2100, ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets. Doors open at 5:30 PM. First fight is at 6:30 PM. For more information on Warrior’s Boxing Promotions, visit our Website at: www.warriorsboxing.com.